What do you think of the Comcast/Time-Warner merger?

[kopfhorer]

I currently have Time-Warner Internet service. The price is reasonable for the level of service I've got (as reasonable as you'll find around here anyway). There's a convenient office about 5 miles away that I can go to if I need to talk to someone. And for all the complaints I've heard about Time-Warner, my customer experience has actually been pretty good.

I've heard a little about Comcast. Like that it's slow, censors certain web sites, deliberately throttles bittorrent (which contrary to popular belief is not used exclusively to commit online piracy – it's how I download my Linux distributions) and crashes at the worst possible moments (there's even a word for that – Comcastration).

We already have a "cartel" of a handful of corporations who control access to the Internet, fix prices, stifle technological progress and so on. If this media behemoth swallows up Time-Warner, how high will the cost of Internet access go up? Would the convenient local office be replaced by an offshore back-office? Would sites like this one either be censored entirely or moved to the back of the metaphorical bus? In short, what would happen to Internet access under the biggest monopoly seen since the breakup of The Bell Telephone System? (Ma Bell was at least regulated to some degree. Comcast won't be.)

 

[Mitchell]

I don't like it. I had Comcast for 13 years when I lived in PA, and was always having some problem with them, either with the cable, or internet service.

I also don't like the merger, because it now creates an essential monopoly across probably the most heavily populated area of the country. I like the idea of a few different companies offering service.

 

[kopfhorer]

Fortunately, it isn't a done deal yet. Regulators still have to put their OK on the merger.

 

[paracarl44]

I hope that the regulators say NO to Comcast.

When they took over here cable prices kept going up every year. Comcast is building the biggest skyscraper in Philadelphia thanks to their exorbitant rates. If this merger is allowed to happen there will be little to no competion in the cable industry.

 

[BrightEyes1082]

Both companies are shitty. I'm really glad I dropped cable.

 

[DontAskJusTckle]

To clarify, Comcast has reached an agreement with Time Warner Cable, which is a separate company altogether from Time Warner. The deal still has to be approved by the federal powers that be.

 

[BrightEyes1082]

Yes, and a shit sandwich plus a shit sandwich equals two shit sandwiches.

 

[CaptainValiant]

I would only sign up for internet anyway. Cable packages with shit I don't even want is outdated and eventually will be interneticized. In my area this only leaves Frontier Communications (sucks) and Verizon.

 

[DontAskJusTckle]

Due to "over the top" service providers such as Netflix, Hulu, and others, more and more people are dropping their cable TV service and just using the Internet to stream their favorite movies and TV shows. At the same time, cable operators such as Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Brighthouse, etc. have found lucrative revenue opportunities elsewhere.

By utilizing their expansive fibre optic footprint they have developed elaborate data services for businesses, the most lucrative of which would be Cell Tower Backhaul. Wireless operators like Sprint, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile are all doing 4G service which is many times more data intensive than 3G. Legacy T1/T3 services are no longer sufficient for this task so they go to the local cable service providers to transport all that data from the cell tower to the Mobile Switching Office via Carrier Ethernet. It's a huge business and still growing like crazy.

 

[Flatfoot]

For me, this could be very good, or very bad. I've had the occasional problem with TWC, but generally good service. However, when they screwed up, it was beyond frustrating. I've heard Comcast has a better customer service track record, but they're also pricier. I have a feeling the SEC may cockblock them before they do it, though. I wish they did that for Duke Energy. >_<

 

[fireguardian]

AS an employee of Comcast I have nothing to really complain about. This could mean some really great job opportunities for me. However as a regular person this makes me super nervous. This is totally a monopoly issue in the works. We were able to squeak by with buying Universal/NBC since mainly create content as opposed to distributing content. Time Warner Cable is another distribution service. And it's fairly substantial customer wise. That's where you are going to see the anti-trust arguments arise. This merge would be eliminating a major competition and making it that much harder for smaller companies compete. They were now have virtually total control of the price market (because let's be real there's no real difference in cost between Comcast and Verizon). You're also now going to see different networks or content providers demanding more money for these companies to distribute what they are airing. That's partly why Time Warner is selling. They were hit hard when A&E and other networks demand more money from them to have the rights to distribute their programing. That one ended up causing content blackouts for Time Warner customers and it got messy.

But it's a huge deal to have one company in control of that many household's services. If this should pass I'm expecting to hear the FCC making really large number of demands of the company of what they can and can't do. We had a number of them placed on Comcast when they bought Universal. But I'm still not sure if this is really a good idea for the general public. I'll be paying close attention to this for sure.

 

[kopfhorer]

@Fireguardian - Good to hear from a Comcast employee. I'm not confident that the FCC can or will rein in the excesses of a Comcast on steroids.

@Flatfoot - we can only hope.

@DontAskJusTckle - Those are some interesting points.

@Paracarl44 - Well-said.

@Brighteyes1082 - Also well-said!

Some interesting news articles on the proposed merger, as well as other Internet matters can be found here.